Small rural primary schools in Finland: A pedagogically valuable part of the school network

This paper reviews research on small rural primary schools in Finland and analyses it under three thematic foci: the relationship between the local rural school and the surrounding community, the small rural primary school as a learning environment, and the teachers’ profession in this context. Over 30% of Finnish primary schools are small rural schools with three to four permanent teachers and teaching groups. Their culture encompasses ties to the local community while providing an almost unique school environment as a context for multiple learning and instructional processes. The review suggests that the position of small rural primary schools is threatened, as the continuing process of centralisation endangers the basic Finnish right to equal basic education in rural areas.     

Cleavage structures and school politics: a Rokkanian comparative-historical analysis

ABSTRACT

This paper explores comparatively and historically why Nordic and Continental welfare and education regimes differ in the degree of comprehensiveness of their primary and lower secondary school systems. It analyses how school reforms, reform attempts and coalitions in the post-war decades were shaped by different cleavage structures in Norway and the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. While the class cleavage was most dominant in school politics in both cases, rural–urban, centre–periphery, state–church and communist–socialist cleavages shaped party systems, political alliances and outcomes decisively. In particular, the rural population was integrated into different cross-interest coalitions: in Norway, its political representatives consented to social democratic comprehensive school reforms, while in Germany, they opposed such reforms. This was related to cross-cutting conflicts concerning centralisation and language in the Norwegian case and regarding religion, centralisation and (anti-)communism in the German case.     

What determines basic school attainment in developing countries? Evidence from rural China

This paper analyzes recent household survey data from Gansu, a less developed province in Northwest China, to examine school attainment in a poor rural area of China. Censored ordered probit regressions are used to estimate the determinants of years of schooling. Child nutritional status, as measured by height-for-age Z-scores, and household income have positive effects on completed years of schooling. Mothers’ education and attitudes toward children's education also have strong effects. Children of mothers with 6 years of primary education will go to school 1.4 years longer than their counterparts whose mothers who have no education. Science labs in lower secondary schools appear to have positive impacts; providing a science lab is estimated to extend years of schooling by 1.8 years. Finally, teachers’ experience in lower secondary schools also has a strong positive impact on school attainment.     

西部农村中小学布局调整过程现状调查——以Y省某地为例

农村中小学布局调整工作对于优化教育资源,不断改善办学条件,提高办学效益和质量起到了积极作用,为进一步推进义务教育均衡发展创造了积极条件。但由于一些地区调整速度过快,造成了新的群众上学难,学校办学难现象。解决出现的问题,既需要加大政策执行力度,形成支持性社会办学力量,也需要教育部门自身的努力。     

学校支持服务体系对乡村青年教师教学创新的影响机制研究

完善学校支持服务体系,激发乡村青年教师创新活力,对推进乡村教育振兴、建设高质量教育体系具有重要意义。鉴于此,本研究深入探讨了不同类型学校支持服务体系对乡村青年教师教学创新的作用机制。结果表明,丰富的专业培训、鼓励教师参与学校管理、营造开放包容的学校氛围有助于激发教师韧性,促进其教学创新。物质奖励对教师韧性的激励作用不显著,使用不当反而容易挫伤乡村青年教师教学创新的积极性。研究结果为优化乡村青年教师长效激励机制以激发其教学创新,建设高质量的乡村教师队伍提供理论支持和政策建议。     

Privatisation, Decentralisation and Education in the United Kingdom: The Role of the State

Since the early 1950s, the axis centralisation–decentralisation, especially as thematised in the work of Isaac Kandel, has represented a major focus of comparative studies in education. Kandel argued that issues relating to the internal conduct of the classroom (interna) should, so far as possible, be decentralised, while issues relating to administration, school structure and organisation of the educational system (externa) might safely be centralised. After 1988, successive governments in the United Kingdom have undertaken reforms which have placed more central control on the curriculum and even methods of teaching (interna), while school finance and administration (externa) have been devolved to the school level. The present essay argues that a simplistic approach to centralisation and decentralisation is not likely to be fruitful. Instead, we should acknowledge the role of the State in creating a permissive framework for educational systems. Local action can then be seen as part of a policy accommodating or resisting the implications of that framework.     

Privatisation,Decentralisation and Education in the United Kingdom: The Role of the State

Since the early 1950s, the axis centralisation–decentralisation, especially as thematised in the work of Isaac Kandel, has represented a major focus of comparative studies in education. Kandel argued that issues relating to the internal conduct of the classroom (interna) should, so far as possible, be decentralised, while issues relating to administration, school structure and organisation of the educational system (externa) might safely be centralised. After 1988, successive governments in the United Kingdom have undertaken reforms which have placed more central control on the curriculum and even methods of teaching (interna), while school finance and administration (externa) have been devolved to the school level. The present essay argues that a simplistic approach to centralisation and decentralisation is not likely to be fruitful. Instead, we should acknowledge the role of the State in creating a permissive framework for educational systems. Local action can then be seen as part of a policy accommodating or resisting the implications of that framework.     

Why do primary school students drop out in poor,rural China? A portrait sketched in a remote mountain village

In this paper we consider why students in poor and rural regions of China are dropping out of school in numbers that may be greater than official statistics admit. With questions about education quality among the most intractable in Education for All initiatives across the developing world, we sketch a portrait of education in a remote mountain village community as it might be painted from the perspective of a primary school dropout: a portrait in which education quality is well in the shadows. We indicate the limits of the view that commonly relates the phenomenon of school dropout primarily with poverty, a lack of school resources and inequities in resource distribution, suggesting that the picture is more nuanced and subtly shaded at local levels. Our research indicates that the education system in the radically transitional society that China is today brings with it values that clash with those of its citizens, particularly those who are marginalized and cannot easily adjust, perhaps because of their disadvantaged socio-economic, cultural and geographic location. In an ethnographic study in a poor, rural area in Yunnan province, we found significant disjunctions in values: between those of the school system and those of parents with regard to the aims and purposes of education; between those of the curriculum and those of teachers with regard to their role in the classroom vis-à-vis knowledge as represented in textbooks; between those of government education policy and the concerns of the remote rural poor with regard to resource distribution; and between those of a newly market-oriented society and educational ideals about teachers’ and students’ abilities. We also offer some insight into the scale and complexity of the problems associated with a lack of education quality and students’ dropping out of school as a consequence, which cannot be revealed by the official 1% dropout rate.     

Do you get what you pay for with school-based health programs? Evidence from a child nutrition experiment in rural China

This study uses a randomized controlled trial of a school-based anemia reduction program in rural China to examine how increased school emphasis on health promotion affects academic performance. Although education and health promotion are complementary functions of schools, they do compete for finite school resources. We compare the effects of a traditional program that provided only information about anemia and subsidies to an otherwise identical program that included performance incentives for school principals based on school-level anemia prevalence. By the end of the trial, exam scores among students who were anemic at baseline improved under both versions of the program, but scores among students in the incentive group who were healthy at baseline fell relative to healthy students in the control group. Results suggest that performance incentives to improve student health increase the impact of school-based programs on student health outcomes, but may also lead to reallocation of school resources.     

中国西部教育生产函数研究

本文运用“甘肃基础教育调查研究”项目2004年调查数据,采用教育生产函数方法和分层线性模型,对甘肃省农村初中数学和语文教育质量的影响因素进行了实证研究。研究结果表明,甘肃农村初中数学和语文教育质量在个体、班级和学校三个水平上均存在显著差异;学生家庭社会经济背景和学校同伴对数学和语文教育质量有显著影响;教师素质对数学和语文教育质量有重要影响;班级规模对数学和语文教育质量有显著负影响;分权管理制度对数学和语文教育质量有显著正影响。基于上述结论,本文对提高西部农村初中数学和语文教育质量提出以下主要政策建议：缩小班级规模;提高教师素质;建立代课教师权益保障制度;推动学校实施分权化管理。     

Does promoting school attendance reduce child labor? Evidence from Burkina Faso's BRIGHT project

Using data from BRIGHT, an integrated program that aims to improve school participation in rural communities in Burkina Faso, we investigate the impact of school subsidies and increased access to education on child work. Regression discontinuity estimates demonstrate that, while BRIGHT substantially improved school participation, it did not reduce – in fact may have increased – children's participation in economic activities and household chores. This combination of increased school participation and work can be explained by the introduction of a simple non-convexity in the standard model of altruistic utility maximizing households. If education programs are implemented to achieve a combination of increased school participation and a reduction in child work they may either have to be combined with different interventions that effectively reduce child work or they may have to be tuned more carefully to the incentives and constraints the child laborer faces.     

Dropping out: Identity conflict in and out of school in Ghana

This paper explores geographies of identity of Ghanaian school dropouts. In particular, we investigate how school dropouts in rural communities construct narratives of identity within and outside school. In our analysis we trace how space, power and identity intersect in accounts of dropping out. Focusing on the narratives of four school ‘dropouts’, we start with their accounts of life outside school where they have significant social responsibilities as parents, carers and/or wage-earners. We contrast this with their accounts of their experiences as students in school. After exploring their efforts to gain and sustain access to school, we turn to their accounts of life in school and the ways they navigate the institutional gender and age regimes. These narratives highlight how being ‘over-age’ intersects with polarised student gender identities in a range of variable ways that discourage staying in school. The analysis indicates that the social positioning and identities of drop outs within school spaces were in tension with those they occupied in their homes and communities. More specifically, we suggest that the difficulties in navigating power and identity in these different spatial geographies are critical to understanding the processes of dropping out. In addition, we reflect on the methodological implications of this research which demonstrates the limits of quantitative data on dropout and associated problems with homogenised, deficit accounts of dropout often articulated in dominant development discourses. In turn this has important implications for how we might construct interventions to address dropout and the right to education for all.     

Issues in state funding for bilingual education

This essay focuses on the incentives and disincentives for local school districts created by state bilingual education funding policies. The programmatic and management concerns important to assessing the effects of funding formulas include: (1) student eligibility for bilingual education, (2) the minimum number of eligible students in a school building or school district for which the state mandates programs, (3) appropriateness of the educational program, (4) student transition into regular classrooms, (5) instructional unit size, (6) record keeping requirements, and (7) program and fiscal planning effects. Through efforts to efficiently and equitably utilize scarce resources, account for their use, and control costs, however, policy makers necessarily confront many unresolved research questions and policy issues. The relationship between funding and bilingual education controversies centering around measuring language proficiency, establishing entrance and exit criteria, and determining effective instructional strategies are reviewed.     

农村职业高中学生厌学症研究

农村职业高中学生厌学症较为普遍,针对这种状况,从学校、社会、学生和家庭四个方面分析其产生的原因,从加强学生心理健康教育,形成消除厌学症的内动力;优化学校教育体系,形成消除厌学症的主动力;争取社会、家庭各方配合,形成消除厌学症的推动力等方面来减轻或消除学生的厌学症。     

Family sources of educational gender inequality in rural China: A critical assessment

In this paper, we investigate the gender gap in education in rural northwest China. We first discuss parental perceptions of abilities and appropriate roles for girls and boys; parental concerns about old-age support; and parental perceptions of different labor market outcomes for girls’ and boys’ education. We then investigate gender disparities in investments in children, children's performance at school, and children's subsequent attainment. We analyze a survey of 9–12-year-old children and their families conducted in rural Gansu Province in the year 2000, along with follow-up information about subsequent educational attainment collected 7 years later. We complement our main analysis with two illustrative case studies of rural families drawn from 11 months of fieldwork conducted in rural Gansu between 2003 and 2005 by the second author.     

农村中小学现代远程教育可持续发展中成本效益问题研究的意义和内容

随着我国农村中小学现代远程教育工程的深入卖施，成本效益问题逐渐浮出水面。但对这一问题的研究目前在我国还是一个弱项。文章以“成本效益观”为基础，对农村中小学现代远程教育可持续发展中成本效益问题研究的意义和内容进行了分析。     

Classroom interaction: Potential or problem? The case of Karagwe

This paper discusses interactional patterns in classrooms in primary school in rural Tanzania, based on an ethnographic study on literacy practices. The paper argues that the official policy of Swahili-only in primary school, together with the huge gap between high expectations on educational outcome and lack of resources, have resulted in the creation of safety strategies among pupils and teachers. These safety strategies include interactional patterns that also constitute a hindrance for students’ learning. However, I claim that these interactional patterns could constitute a potential for educational development, if research findings from bilingual education were taken into account.     

对当前中国教育状况的思考

教育经费投入不足,不是形成当前中国教育陷入困境的根本原因,根本原因来自传统的教育观念,并由此形成历史的文化积淀。中国教育走出困境的思路:1.提高各级领导（特别是中央及省一级领导）对教育工作的认识,转变固有的教育观念;2.变革现行的教育管理体制与学制;3.转变陈旧的教学观与教育形式,培养富有创造性思维能力的新型人才;4.打破“封闭式”学校教育机制,实行开放性办学。     

The effect of class composition by gender and ability on secondary school students’ school well-being and academic self-concept: A literature review

In the field of educational effectiveness research, the influence of a class’ student body on students’ individual achievement scores has been a popular research interest for many years. Yet, few studies have focussed on the effects of class composition on students’ non-achievement outcomes, and up to now, hardly any attempts have been made to summarize the findings of previous studies on this topic by conducting a literature review. The current study tries to fill in this gap and focuses on the effects of class composition in secondary education in terms of ability and gender on students’ school well-being and academic self-concept. The results of this literature review indicate that ability grouping is beneficial for strong students’ school well-being, but rather detrimental for the school well-being of weak students. The reverse holds for students’ academic self-concept. Furthermore, our results show that single-sex classes are advantageous for girls’ school well-being and academic self-concept. As for boys, the results are inconclusive.     

Co‐operation in the Countryside: small primary school clusters

This paper examines the role and significance of co‐operation (clustering) between small primary schools in rural areas across England and Wales. By increasing the range of resources available and enlarging staff and pupil peer groups, clustering can counter many of the challenges that confront curriculum delivery in small schools. However, effective inter‐school liaison can be impeded by fears surrounding the loss of individual school autonomy and logistical barriers caused by the nature of rural localities. Just as significantly, reductions in local authority support for cluster schemes combined with increased incentives to compete for pupils may be curtailing useful co‐operation. Findings from a sample of small‐school headteachers suggest, however, that despite recognition of these detrimental pressures, clustering is likely to remain central to a wider set of local coping strategies which are making a significant contribution to the viability of rural education provision.